Paranormal Here There and Everywhere (1)

There are numerous other sites on the Web that deal with the paranormal, in general or specific aspects of it, in particular. From time to time, I like to get out and about on the Internet and see who is doing what.

In this, the first in the series called Paranormal Here There and Everywhere I’ll be looking at the Afterlife Research Centre.

The Afterlife Research Centre is an academic forum for research into the afterlife, mediumship, paranormal and religious experience.

Among the people involved in this site are:

Fiona Bowie, who is an Honorary Research Fellow in Anthropology (study of humankind) at the University of Bristol and member of Wolfson College, Oxford. Her research interests include ethnographic approaches (descriptions of customs of people and their cultures) in particular in the study of religious experience and African religions. Fiona is widely-written and her book Tales from the Afterlife is probably the best known of her relevant publications

Jack Hunter, who is also a PhD student in Anthropology at the University of Bristol, studying Spiritualist groups in the city. His undergraduate dissertation, also undertaken at Bristol, concerned the practice of contemporary trance and physical mediumship at the Bristol Spirit Lodge.

Jack produces a regular on-line newsletter exploring anthropological and other academic approaches to the paranormal. According to the website: “the journal aims to promote an interdisciplinary dialogue on issues of the paranormal, so as to move beyond the sceptic vs. advocate impasse which has settled over the current debate, and to open new avenues for enquiry and understanding”- which seems very admirable to me 🙂

While my own research was not strictly anthropologically based (try saying that after a glass of champagne), I believe that the paranormal is best served with research from as many different perspectives as possible, and it would seem that Fiona and her team at the University of Bristol are making significant contributions to our understanding of parapsychology.

Coming under the anthropology/ethnography banner, and with informal links to the Afterlife Reseach Centre, are a number of other paranormal researchers, one of whom caught my eye.

iarla – an independent site looking at paranormal research, history, evidence, and evps

Rosemarie Cornacchione is an independent paranormal researcher (with a fabulous looking site) called iarla Rosemarie is looking at paranormal investigations from an historical perspective, with the aim of corroborating the evidence for paranormal phenomena. She is particularly interested in haunted locations!

Continuing the Discussion

Please check out the sites above and then let me know which paranormal sites you are drawn to and why. I know I’d be interested to know more about your paranormal tastes and Im sure others will be too.

Meet the Author

Probably the most comprehensive overview of the afterlife is Pierre Calvi-Parissetti’s “21 Days into the Afterlife.” (my apologies to Pierre, i may have got his name slightly wrong). The loose combo of Dr Annabela Cardosa and Prof David Fontana is also great. They deal with ITC which to my mind is the best evidence of all as it eliminates human error and is recorded for future listening. Dr Annabela is a senior diplomat for Portugal and on a personal note is an avid animal lover and like myself regards them as very much our equeals.